His law enforcement connections cut, excuses were all Walter Raven had left Monday.

They weren't enough.

The habitual drunken driver who skirted tough penalties for past crimes because of his work as a confidential police informant will spend up to 25 years in state prison for a September hit-and-run crash that killed two people, a judge ruled Monday.

Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Vough sentenced Mr. Raven to 6½ to 25 years in state prison for the wreck and an unrelated case in which he unwittingly sold prescription morphine to a fellow confidential police informant.

Investigators said Mr. Raven, who didn't have a driver's license because of four previous arrests for impaired driving, abruptly swerved into the path of motorcyclist Donnie Pizano on Sept. 2 on Route 315 in Pittston Township, killing Mr. Pizano, 38, and his passenger, Robin Walsh, 39. Mr. Raven then fled.

In a plea for leniency, the 60-year-old Jenkins Township man insisted he didn't know he hit anything.

"I didn't know what happened until I was incarcerated for a few days," Mr. Raven told the judge. "I feel terrible. I'm sorry for what happened."

Judge Vough was not moved.

"The fact you were behind the wheel that night was not an accident," the judge said. "I feel you are a danger to the community, sir."

John Pike, Mr. Raven's attorney, asked Judge Vough to consider his client's work as a confidential informant for police, saying Mr. Raven was essential in multiple arrests while secretly helping investigators for nearly a decade. He was so helpful and reliable he was given an "open invitation" to initiate pinches of suspects and had the personal cellphone number of one of his police supervisors, Mr. Pike said.

Assistant District Attorney Mamie Phillips shot back that Mr. Raven already had been rewarded for his assistance to police and needed to be punished this time.

"He was given consideration on numerous occasions," she said.

Ms. Phillips noted police actually terminated their relationship with Mr. Raven in 2008 because he failed to heed their advice to stop driving.

Mr. Raven was taken into custody on unrelated drug charges the day after the hit-and-run, when police found him power-washing his damaged car. Days later, The Citizens' Voice - a Times-Shamrock newspaper - revealed Raven had previously been given preferential treatment in court due to his work as an informant.

Judges approved delays in his report dates to prison, handed down minimum sentences and granted him immediate entry into a minimal offenders work release program after his attorneys warned he would be in danger in general population for cooperating with police, court records showed.

Court records from Mr. Raven's four previous cases of driving under the influence indicated he was a menace on the road, driving erratically and running stop signs while under the influence of a mixture of alcohol, powerful prescription medications and illegal drugs.

At the time of the crash, Mr. Raven's driver's license was revoked through March 14, 2017.

In court Monday, Mr. Raven said he was stressed around the time of the crash due to a string of medical ailments, his divorce and losing his auto sales business. He also noted he could not see well without his glasses and was not wearing them the night of the crash.

"He has no defense, but he has a lot of excuses," Ms. Phillips told the judge. "He took off. He left the scene. He left these individuals there. He tried to cover up what he did."

Raven pleaded guilty in May to fleeing the scene of a crash, accidents involving death while not properly licensed, driving as a habitual offender, tampering with evidence and several traffic violations.

Lindsay McFarland, who worked with Robin Walsh in the Luzerne County Clerk of Courts office, spoke at the sentencing hearing and described her former colleague as a kind, caring and wise friend whose life was stolen in an instant.

"She didn't deserve this," she said. "I hope, Mr. Raven, you think about her every day for the rest of your life."

Contact the writer: bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com

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